that's a wrap on "news watch" this week. thanks to you all. i'm john scott. see you next week. hello. i'm greg jarrett. glad you're with us. welcome inside a brand new hour of "america's headquarters". >> topping news this hour the ferocious wildfire threatening one of america's national treasures grows by another seven square miles as weary firefighters say that this fire poses every challenge that there can be. we will go live to the scene. oklahoma's governor is speaking out today to fox news. find out why she says the shocking thrill-kill murder of this australian baseball player has shaken her state to the core. and our fair and balanced political panel debates some

tough talk today from senator ted cruz on obama care and whether it will lead to a government shutdown. we begin with a fox news alert. syria has agreed to allow u.n. inspectors to visit the site of a reported chemical attack. the u.n. inspectors were already in syria to investigate reports of earlier poison gas strikes against civilians. until now the assad regime has denied the inspectors access to the site of wednesday's alleged attack outside damascus that killed hundreds. a senior white house official today says there is already very little doubt that poison gas was used. secretary of state chuck hagel saying the military is preparing for a range of potential options. >> president obama has asked the defense department to prepare

options for all contingencies. we have done that. and, again, we are prepared to exercise whatever option if he decides to employ one of those options. >> elizabeth joining us live from washington. elizabe elizabeth, we're hearing from the administration. what are they saying? >> yeah, we are hearing from them this weekend. one senior official says the administration is continuing to assess the facts so the president can make an informed decision on how to respond. the president met with his national security advisors just yesterday. and the administration says the intentional delay translates to a corruption of evidence and a lack of credibility. we also know secretary john kerry was also in extensive contact with his team. lawmakers are really split on this one. some say it's better to way and take action, others say the time is now. >> well, we have to verify that it was directed by the assad regime because that will allow

us to build an international coalition, which is absolutely necessary to take any further steps in syria. and also will help diffuse some of the countries like iran, russia who are are trying to pawn this off on the rebels, the opposition. i think we have to act rather quickly. i think the horrific killings of people -- murdering his own people, he's been doing it for a while now. but obviously the gas that was used to kill his own people, i think we have to respond. and i think we have to respond in conjunction with our nato allies. >> this is a syrian regime says u.n. inspectors as you mentioned can investigate the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack as early as tomorrow. >> do we know the extent of the action taken by the military? >> well, we're learning more. according to a senior u.s. defense official four destroyers have been positioned in the eastern mediterranean sea, but we haven't heard that there's been any instructions for these navy ships quite yet. >> we do know there are four

warships off the coast of syria. missiles are an option to try to take out these chemical stockpiles. every time i get briefed on this issue, it gets worse. because it's become a mecca for the jihadists. they are traveling from all over the world, al qaeda factions, into syria to fight the assad regime. so i don't really see any good outcome here. >> according to media reports, the rebels say a failure of decisive action by the u.s. and its allies doesn't bolden president bashar al assad's regime. they have reported rebels have received shipments of weapons since wednesday's alleged chemical attack. >> elizabeth pran, thank you very much. here's the question coming up, what is the next step for america and for our allies? and is the military force the right move? we will ask fox middle east analyst later in this hour, gregg. a wave of violence in iraq today killing dozens of people

including an 8-year-old boy. the most shocking attack, militants set up a fake military checkpoint, kidnapped five soldiers and shot them to death. there were car bombings in at least three cities. attacks have been on the rise in iraq since the crackdown on a protest camp back in april. well, fox news alert for you now. the situation in california growing more intense as a wildfire the size of chicago burns its way into yosemite national park. firefighters battling against heavy winz e winds that threaten to drive the flames closer to thousands of homes. and groves of ancient sequoia trees, our dominic, tell us more about these new efforts. >> reporter: well, heather, it's what's called spike camps.

it's when the fire services send out firefighters together with dozers and with engines to small spots inside the wilderness which starts to build up new lines and new break lines and new dozer lines. it's a very preemptive move by the fire services because this fire is jumping so fast caused by winds. that is just whipping it up and sending it over hillsides. they're actually having to instead of wait for it to come to certain parts, they're actually going out to meet the fire in certain areas. this is how the fire service is saying they're much needed. >> we're seeing spike camps for a quicker response. one, we have almost 4,000 firefighters here, but we need them in centralized low kagszs instead of moving them from one central place, we have spike camps set up around the perimeter of this fire for immediate response and support of those firefighters. >> reporter: it's that sense of urgency. and the fire today has left about -- sorry about 10,000 acres inside, about 134,000. it's historically one of the

biggest ones, now the 15th largest fire in california history, heather. >> it's so unpredictable in terms of its movement and where it's going to go next. now, containment is still low. is there any indication of when they will in fact be able to tame this fire? >> reporter: well, containment's about 7%. that is an improvement on the past 48 hours. but fire officials saying, look, we think the turning point is going to be the middle of the week. so wednesday at the early point. now, what they describe as a turning point is we don't know in terms of containment, but when they think they've managed to drive it both north and east away from the population areas, that's when they're going to get breathing room. and of course they have to protect the critical infrastructure that provides so much power and water to the city of san francisco. they've been sending off a big fire around there. it's a crucial area because it's so strategically important, that area alone is taking up huge resources. while at the same time they've got to put the fire out. one fire official yesterday was saying to me, look, even when we

get to decent containment of 15% or more, it will be months before this area is truly safe. months, heather. >> dominic di-natale reporting live for us. thank you, dominic. major flooding leaving serious damage in southern colorado. runoff from recent storms pouring into homes. neighbors say cinder blocks covering storm drains left the floodwaters nowhere to go. families in the area, many of whom were just settling into their new homes now facing long expensive cleanup. >> said the first couple days are real important so we don't get so much mold. we bought all new furniture, all new -- my 70-inch tv's gone. >> my wife's wedding dress is down in the closet. that's a little sad. >> many people in the neighborhood do not have flood insurance because flooding is rare in this part of the state. fbi chief robert muller stepping down after a dozen years on the job.

he was at his desk barely a week when terrorists attacked on 9/11. and he says the danger is not over, especially after a credible threat this summer. director muellor talks about that and future threats with chief intelligence correspondent kathrine herrage. >> reporter: robert mueller has served two years beyond the standard term at the request of the president. he spoke to fox news about the terrorist threat, the benghazi attack and domestic surveillance. does the fbi collect any data on u.s. citizens? >> yes. if you are -- have the authority from the courts or otherwise under the statutes to capture e-mails of somebody, you capture them and you review them. >> so to be clear, the fbi's only collecting americans e-mails under a court order. >> yes. >> reporter: as a result of the nsa leaks by former contractor edward snowden, mueller suggested terrorists are

changing the way they operate. >> our capabilities around the world have been adversely impacted by -- >> reporter: on the benghazi terrorist attack that killed ambassador stephens, he explained why it took two weeks for his agents to reach the scene. >> on one hand it was diplomatic e ner sha on part of the lib yas and we wanted to make sure we had adequate security. >> reporter: mueller to the fbi's investigation pan-am bombing over lockerbie, scotland, where 270 people were killed. as for benghazi. >> what's holding up the investigation now? >> a transitory government, not sure this particular prime minister is going to be there this week or next month. we've gone through several in the one year since benghazi. >> hard to know who to deal with. >> it's hard to know who to deal with. you do not have the security forces that we have developed a rapport with or have the capabilities that we would hope. >> reporter: while mueller would not comment on the

administration's initial statements that a video played a role in the attack, he confirmed the bureau dispatched a special team of investigators. >> we had treated it as a terrorist attack. >> reporter: and that was immediate? >> yes. >> reporter: on the recent decision to close nearly two dozen u.s. embassies in africa and middle east based on a credible and specific threat from al qaeda, he said the danger has not passed. >> we are closely monitoring the situation. i would say that it may well have been postponed. one of the contributing factors i believe is the fact we ramped up and precautions were taken and the opportunity they thought they may have had at that juncture is no longer there. >> reporter: as for a reported conference call between terrorist leaders. >> we were seeing dialogue between core al qaeda and affiliates. as the countries are going through the arab spring that will territorially present a substantial threat down the road. >> reporter: so al qaeda is not dead? >> no. >> reporter: which is the greatest threat to u.s. national security right now? al qaeda in pakistan, al qaeda

in yemen, al qaeda in north africa, or home grown terrorism? >> i would start with home grown terrorism. the most immediate threat is home grown terrorism as we've seen in the boston marathon. >> reporter: the threat connecting most home grown plots from the ft. hood massacre in 2009 to the boston marathon bombing is the followers of the first american targeted for death by the cia. >> the increase in individuals who are radicalized on the internet and in addition to that can gain the knowledge on how you develop an explosive device on the internet, that's the biggest threat at this juncture. after that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula out of yemen. >> reporter: fox's ongoing reporting of the cleric and newly declassified documents are raising questions over whether the u.s. government tried to recruit him as an intelligence source in 2002. >> i am not personally familiar with any effort to recruit anwar

awalaki. >> reporter: as for his last day at the bureau in early september, he said he would miss his colleagues above all else. i sense some sadness in your voice. >> i will be sad to leave it, absolutely. but it is time to go on. >> reporter: in washington, kathrine heriga, fox news. in other news, three people are dead, two wounded after a workplace shooting at a trucking company. this happened in florida, butler lake. it's south of jacksonville. police say a long-time worker shot and killed his former boss and co-worker at the prich ard trucking company. two others injured during the shooting. authorities say 72-year-old herbert allen junior then went home and shot himself. friends and associate of the suspect say they're shocked. >> yes, it is. >> we just trying to figure out the rest of it what's going on. >> investigators say alan had recently been fired.

police are not sure if his termination had anything to do with the shooting. well, a fire burning at a recycling plant in suburban dallas is now under control. the fire broke out last night. it was at the oak cliff recycling. the facility collects and processes steel, iron, copper, along with some other materials. one of the problems for firefighters apparently was the lack of fire hydrants near the plant. the cause of the fire remains under investigation. well, they say hard work pays off, but new research is painting a somewhat different picture. figure out why companies are rewarding slackers. >> that doesn't sound right to me. >> slacker alert. who's really winning in the long run? plus, remembering a broadway legend, julie harris passing away at the age of 87. we will take a look back at her stellar career. >> my heart goes out to the lloyd family. i just met with somewhere around ten of his family members. this is a grim profession. how mu protein

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time for a quick check of the headlines for you. a south brunswick, new jersey, man emerging as the third and final winner of this month's

massive powerball jackpot. his share leaving him with a cool $62 million. and reclusive writer j.d.salinger who passed away in 2010 may not be done publishing at all. the authors of a new biography claim five new books will be released starting as early as 2015. and army staff sergeant ty michael carter being recognized as one of our nation's greatest war heroes. he will be awarded the medal of honor tomorrow for his extraordinary actions during one of the deadliest battles of the afghan war. you know, we hear all the time that the world isn't fair. and here's the proof. there's a new study out that shows nearly a quarter of north american firms pay out bonuses to their lowest performing employees. we're talking slackers here. so why are their meager efforts being rewarded?

and why does harder work really not payoff? joining us now to talk about is it scott gant, founder of helpsavemydollars.com. you know, the corporate landscape has really changed, hasn't it? >> it really has changed. 2008, the great recession, caused millions of people to lose their jobs. unemployment ticked past 10%. and companies were forced to layoff a lot of people. so if we fast forward to now, companies are slowly starting to hire, but they're getting by with fewer workers. and that's causing employees to take on more tasks, more responsibilities. so if i'm a really hard working employee and the guy next to me strolls in at 10:00 a.m., he's on facebook all day, sipping coffee, and he gets a bonus, i'm going to be frustrated. and that's ultimately what's happening here. >> what's the deal? do bosses not want to confront the slackers? >> it's true. i mean, for a boss to say to an employee, hey, you really aren't pulling your weight, that's an awkward conversation to have. and so we're seeing employers,

at least from this report, paying to simply not have these conversations. they're giving bonuses to everyone just to avoid that situation. >> bonuses for underperformers. help me understand that. >> it's hard to pin down because, look, if it's a sales job and an employee didn't meet their sales goal, well, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're a bad salesperson. it could just be that the economy is sluggish and they had a tough time bringing in business that quarter, but maybe the previous quarter they were a rock star. it's hard to pin down. and ultimately it's really going to depend on the performance of each employee. >> is tracking performance elusive? >> it is elusive. because what makes an employee good, right? it ultimately comes down to what their performance is that quarter. and every employer is going to have a different opinion. >> yeah. what about bonuses, improving morale? i mean, does it really work? >> in some cases, yeah. in last december we saw the publisher random house actually

give a $5,000 bonus to every employee based on the success of "50 shades of grey," which is a huge success. whether you're a top editor or entry level employee, you got that bonus and that boosted morale, especially aez companies are trying to replicate past successive projects. >> not only that, it encourages savings, right? >> it does. the great thing about a bonus is you get it in a lump sum, so you can throw that right into savings. and the latest readings on the personal savings rate actually show it dropped from 4.6% to 4.4% over may to june. so that's not good. or, you can, renovate your kitchen or go on vacation, all of which will help the economy because 70% of our gdp is consumer spending. >> or pay for your kids' college education. that's going to take me about 25, 30 years. scott gamm, thanks very much. >> thanks, gregg. good to see you. american theater losing a legendary performer this weekend. actress julie harris passed away

yesterday from congestive heart failure. harris will be remembered as one of broadway's most celebrated stars. during her nearly 60-year career on the stage, she won an unprecedented five tony awards for best actress including for a member of the wedding, that's a film of her winning the award back in 1962. she took home an award for lifetime achievement and also received one of the prestigious kennedy center honors for her contributions to the arts. that was in 2005. here she is with tony bennett looking lovely. she also appeared in dozens of movie and tv roles including the 1955 classic film "east of eden" with james dean. julie harris died yesterday at her home in massachusetts. she was 87 years old. >> she was so great "east of eden." still be missed. friends and family today remembering chris lane, the australian baseball player gunned down last week in

oklahoma, for no apparent reason. coming up, the gesture from the president that the state's governor says she'd like to see next. >> plus, more fallout over obama care. one prominent republican now laying out a plan to get the public on board with repealing it. >> we're not going to fund obama care. and if president obama chooses to force a shutdown, a partial temporary shutdown, then we have to stand together and turn up the heat until the democrats listen to the american people. hey linda! what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support gularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'.

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it is the bottom of the hour. that means of course it's time for top of the news. and we begin with syria. agreeing to allow u.n. inspectors to visit the site of a reported chemical weapons attack where hundreds were reportedly killed outside of damascus. >> in the meantime, president

obama's speaking by phone today with the french president. the two leaders discussing possible international responses to the syrian crisis, agreeing to stay in contact. california firefighters battling against heavy winds as they try to contain a massive wildfire burning into yosemite national park. the fire now threatening thousands of homes and groves of sequoia trees. and double-lung transplant patient officially is off oxygen. what great news. her mother making the announcement on facebook. sarah suffers from cystic fibrosis and is recovering well after surgery. brand-new reaction today to the senseless murder of an australian student in oklahoma. the death triggering outrage here in the u.s. and back in his home country. police say three teens gunned down christopher lane, who is in the u.s. on a baseball

scholarship. because they say they were bored. peter doocy with the latest. >> when police hauled james edward into the station so he could be charged with murdering australian baseball player chris lane, edward danced and did twirls and treated the entire process like it was a joke. this is the same suspect who tweeted in april "90% of white people are nasty. #hatethem." but the stephens county district court says race is not seen as a motive, so he's not investigating a hate crime. >> there's nothing inside the files and the audio and the reports that we've been given that would lead us to believe that christopher lane was killed simply because of his nationality or because of his race. >> across the pacific ocean in australia this weekend, chris lane's family and friends continued to mourn gathering at a baseball diamond where he used

to play to observe a moment of silence and to lay a ball cap in his honor. >> it's important club to be around each other, to make sure everyone including the family feels the support. and make sure that they feel like they're not alone. >> president obama has so far been much quieter about chris lane's murder than he was about teenager trayvon martin's death. and oklahoma's governor mary fallin told fox it would be nice if he spoke up. >> i think it would be a nice gesture for him to do that. and especially since the country of australia has expressed their sentiments as to the murder itself. >> the d.a. says we should expect to see the three suspects in court in october. greg. >> peter, thanks very much. peter doocy in washington. texas senator ted cruz saying now is the time for the gop to stand up and defund obama

care. he admits he currently doesn't have the votes to make that happen in the senate. but he says that he could get them if republicans take a stand and swing public opinion to their side. and he revealed how he would initiate that debate. >> here's what i think should happen. the house of representatives should pass a continuing resolution that funds the federal government in its entirety, every aspect of the federal government, except obama care. and it should explicitly prohibit any funding for obama care, mandatory or discretionary. and i filed legislative language in the senate to do that. >> the gop largely splits on how to take on obama care. is cruz's approach the way to go? let's debate this. mercedes, former spokesperson for george w. bush and david mercer, finance director for the dnc. thank you both for joining us. >> thank you, heather. >> pleasure to be here. >> senator cruz would need 41 senators or 218 representatives

to get behind his legislation. so, mercedes, i'll begin with you. what do you think about his tactics? >> well, you know, i think senator cruz's heart is in the right place, however i think his tactic quite frankly won't work politically. we know that there's a public support out there to basically oppose or disapprove of obama care. i think that in essence of trying to shut down the government when you're not including obama -- or funding obama care, i think that's when you have a big problem because there's not that public support for shutting down the government. at the end i think the house leadership's approach where, you know, basically they're talking about different options, but the fact that they're causing the slow death of obama care is i think a much more effective tactic than going forth with how senator cruz is approaching it. they just don't have the votes. and obviously senator reid is not going to move that forward. >> and david, as mercedes just alluded to, the house plan, speaker boehner, is talking

about delaying this debate until they have to take on the debt limit. and that will be, what, late october, early november. is that a better strategy? and do both sides risk alienating americans who are tired of the partisan bickering? >> well, i think they are alienating americans and out of touch with americans in general as we see the polls with regard to the republican leadership and in congress at 10% favorability. so this kind of stunt that cruz is suggesting in shutting down the government is according to senator burr out of north carolina the dumbest idea he's ever heard of. and i think there are other republican senators that think the same way. yet senator corker calling it a silly idea, goldberg, commentator on fox news called it a ludicrous strategy for

legislation. obama care has been passed. it has been supported by the supreme court, signed by the president. it's time to move on and get some action out of congress and it's not in shutting down the government, or in defunding what is the law of the land being obama care. >> david, i don't know that that's entirely true that americans do want to move on though because in all of the latest polls, really, an average of two-to-one margin americans say that congress should keep working on the law. there are a couple reasons for that. americans think that the new health care law is going to increase their medical costs and their taxes and add to the federal deficit. and as we've seen over the past couple weeks as more information starts to come out from larger companies, from universities, it really is increasing their costs. as a result, they're dropping coverage for spouses. we heard that last week. mercedes. >> that's right. the ones that are out of touch are the democrats and president obama. the reason being you have 54% of americans that disapprove of

obama care. and the fact is that we need to see changes to the law. and delays, even the president and the unions, his own liberal basis saying there needs to be changes to the law. we've seen a delay in the employer mandates. and we also now need to move forward and have these delays. they need to have the delays on the individual mandates, which by the way has bipartisan support in the house as well as on the exchange subsidies and taxes. let me tell you, those vulnerable democrats take that into 2014 in the mid-term elections there will be a referendum on obama care. and if we are able to delay this, at that point the republicans have a good chance of regaining the senate and keeping the house. and in essence maybe seeing more of this change that we need in obama care. >> david, i'm going to let you comment on that. but before we begin with that, i also want to touch on the 2014 midterm elections. and i want to listen to the sound that came in from senator scott brown on fox news sunday. listen to this. >> whether they shut down the government, i think that's exactly what harry reid and chuck schumer want and that's

what the democrats want in the house because that will just show, oh, here we go again, the republicans holding everything up. >> all right. david, effect on 2014 midterms. >> well, i think he's right. the senator scott brown is right that if they do shut down the government, you can ask newt gingrich what trouble that will bring upon republicans. we're not calling for a shutdown. you only hear that coming off the lips of republicans. but going also to mercedes' point, i think as you hear more news as we saw recently in mid-july with new york finally getting its exchange up and running and with rates being posted that they're expecting a 50% reduction in the cost of insurance. >> but that's not the same everywhere. >> that's right. >> that's not equal across all states. >> you're right. it's not the same everywhere. especially where republican governors are dragging their feet on it creating exchanges to get transparency on competitive rates that will lower rates overall. so it's about time the gop governors started to set up those exchanges so you can have

transparen transparency, competition in the parkt place to get those rates down. >> mercedes, last word. >> again, i think the republicans need to come together and be united here because at the end what we do need to see is a delay in obama care. and at the end it puts these vulnerable democrats in a very tricky position. so, again, i think pushing it forward to the 2014 -- >> why delay benefits like -- >> delaying the individual -- this is about delaying individual mandates. >> $6.1 billion -- >> okay. >> why delay for -- >> i have to wrap it up. we appreciate you both joining us. and i think that we need to continue this on another day. >> that would be fun. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> look forward to it. new questions about how to handle syria now that it appears bashar al assad will allow u.n. inspectors to check out the site of that alleged chemical attack. so if president obama's red line has been crossed, what should america's next move be?

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and save on refills at advaircopd.com. back to our top story. united nations dispatching inspectors to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria on wednesday. while the date and time are still being worked out, there are new reports today that the assad regime is expressing confidence that it has gained the upper hand in the bloody two and a half-year civil war that has left an estimated 100,000 people dead. walid phares author of the book "coming revolution." thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, heather, so much. >> so if in fact it's found that the syrian regime is responsible for this chemical weapons attack, what should the united

states do? >> well, basically the obama administration is working on making sure that it has the legal evidence, it may have some analytical evidence, but it needs evidence it can take to the security council or to congress or to the allies and say it has been used by the regime. and then morally and politically we need to take action now. what kind of action is the big question. would it be limited to striking back at the missile sites that use those weapons or at the storage site? that is something in the hands of the discretion of the president. but whatever that action is going to be, heather, it's going to lead to a reaction by the syrians and their allies. and that's where i think the white house thinking is today. >> in my research for our segment today, i found an article you wrote. it was back in june -- or you commented in this article. and you talked about the timing. and you said that intervening now in syria, this is your quote, it would be the equivalent of entering world war

ii in '42 and not in '41 and not in '40. basically saying that it's too late. is that what you still believe? >> yes, i do. and i'm going to explain why. in 2001 -- and we lived all of that a few years ago. we were present in iraq flt everything we'd like to take around syria today to take action against the regime, we had it already. but when we withdrew from iraq, the iranians through iraq were able to connect with us and are providing him with everything he needs and hezbollah from lebanon is also moving over and fighting. so the difference between 2011 and today, in 2011 assad was completely surrounded, isolated like gadhafi was. today, we'll be confronting iranian regime, asset in iraq and hezbollah. that's why it's a much bigger decision today than three years ago. >> in terms of supplying weapons to the rebels and not knowing exactly who we're supplying them to. my next question would be then,

you know, clearly this is a humanitarian crisis. hundreds of thousands of people dead, we saw the latest pictures of the women and children lined up in these body bags, one beside another. do we have any other options? what else can we do? >> look, option of not doing anything is going to lead to another 50,000, another 100,000. because if you don't contain it, there is no reason for the regime not to continue with that massacre. and there's no reason for al qaeda to continue the penetration of the opposition. so it seems to me that the most possible thing we could do with less cost would be to establish a small no-fly zone over a small area of security for the people who are fleeing. this would be the basis for another operation, if we have a much wider consensus internationally speaking. >> okay. walid phares, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it as always. >> thank you so much. prosecutors turning to

former nfl aaron hernandez' inner circle as they try to build a murder case against him. but the former football star's friends not so helpful these days. our legal panel weighs in on that case coming up next. [ female announcer ] a classic macaroni & cheese from stouffer's starts with freshly-made pasta, and 100% real cheddar cheese. but what makes stouffer's mac n' cheese best of all. that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. made with care for you or your family. : any last requests mr. baldwin? do you mind grabbing my phone and opening the capital one purchase eraser? i need to redeem some venture miles before my demise. okay. it's easy to erase any recent travel expense i want. just pick that flight right there. mmm hmmm.

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>> her unanimous degrees now charged with first-degree murder in the death of a friend. the former negative patriot has been criticized for the company he keeps. with the credibility of so-called snitch coming into question now and a lack of hard evidence against him, some say that hernandez's inner circle are giving the state a tough case to prosecute. now we have defense attorney and former prosecutor. robert, a guy by the name of carlos has flipped. >>guest: absolutely. if you see everything that happened at the arraignment, ortiz was the only member who last seen with lloyd before he was killed and he was the only one that wasn't indicted or

formally charged with crimes. there is speculation the prosecution obviously is in bed with him. he is telling them everything he knows. the question at the trial is, will he stand up to cross-examination. he is not the most credible witness with regard to his background. he has prior criminal convictions and i believe he is on probation. he admitted to his probation officer he is addicted to drugs and alcohol. the defense team for hernandez will have a time with him. >> gregg: they will. david, to that point, david, it is always a problem, right, back people hang out with bad people, snitches are nefarious so it is a field day for the defense. >>guest: it is. even hernandez's cousin who is offered immunity said to the prosecutor, forget it, i will not testify with immunity. every one of the wents has lengthy criminal records, have serious drug problems, are going to be seriously lacking this

credibility. the prosecution is going to be left with either them or other people who may take the 5th and will not testify at all. they have the videotape which could be to their advantage show ing them pulling in an industrial park with lloyd in the car and when they move, oops, he is not in but if you only have the tape and no credible witnesses, i tell you what, i see reason doubt possibly coming down the road. >> gregg: i put together a summary of the evidence. here it is: 44 caliber gun casings match the murder weapon. surveillance video as david mentioned, places hernandez at the scene. the text messages and cell phone messages. the victims' sister implicates hernandez. d.n.a. evidence literally bubblegum places hernandez at the scene. robert, this is a good case for

the protection against hernandez. >>guest: it is a good case with the physical evidence but if you cannot explain your evidence it is going to -- there will be those on the jury who want to know what happened and why. if they cannot bring credible witnesses to become up the evidence, again, that reasonable doubt is going to be a great argument for the defense. also, how is it that ortiz and wallace, the other two co-defendants, why wouldn't the prosecution charge all three of them with murder and then lean on them? >> gregg: that is what i don't get. >> if each of the three blame each other as the shooter can't they all be convicted because they are acting in concert? the prosecution can place them all at the scene. it is a conspiracy to commit murder. >>guest: when it comes to aiding and abetting they can implicate the defendants they hold equal responsibility so they can all be convicted for

murder and all be given life innocences. that is what they have to do. they have to charge them all. somebody who sees getting a live sentence is far worse than rolling over on their buddy will roll and then they will be able to get some credible testimony. right now the only person charged other than hernandez is someone who giving accessory after the fact only carrying the penalty of seven years which is not good enough to get him to cooperate. he will say, convict me, i will do three years in prison and i will be out. >> gregg: if they can all be placed at the scene of the murder, aren't they all guilty? >>guest: the argument that i used to make, if you are in for a penny, you are in for a pound. if you are all there and all represented in advance you are all getting in the car, you pick him up, you take him to the industrial car, and lloyd doesn't come back and he is found dead and you see video of hernandez and the other two in hernandez's home with guns in their hand you can argue

essentially and direct evidence that the text messages, et cetera, tie all three of them to it, then you can get people to really. without it, you have to people who have no incentive. ortiz has an incentive because he is on probation and has skeletons. >> gregg: two of the best, thanks gentleman, for being with us. >> heather: it is back to work for congress and they have their work cut out for them. coming up our political insiders will debate, are we headed for a government shut down over the budget and obamacare? go, go, go.

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>> heather: hello, everyone, welcome to brand new hour inside america's news headquarters. >> gregg: thanks for being with us. topping the news this hour, egypt remains in crisis mode after weeks of clashes and deadly violence toward coptic christians and others. we will take you to a place right here in america where egyptian christians and muslims live peacefully side by side. >> heather: we will tell you why all of this water has many small towns and businesses mad at the government. >> gregg: and companies are fighting back over sagging diet drink sales. we look at the health charge

being thrown back-and-forth with the soda companies and what it means for you and your family. >> heather: we have the wildfire crisis in california. firefighters battling against heavy winds as they struggle to contain a massive fire that is burning its way into yosemite national park. the flames now threatening ancient trees and thousands of homes. dominic is in california. dominic, the raging fire appears to be feeding itself. what are firefighters up against? >>reporter: well, the winds we are getting have been the winds they have dreaded for the past two days. they are coming in at ten and 40 miles per hour depending where you are. what it is doing, it is causing an affect called crowning where trees burst into flames from the bottom to the top. those at the top are torn down by the wind and curl back and

set the forest floor on fire. what crews are struggling with is how to cope with that situation when the winds are struggling like that. take a listen. >> what is happening is individual trees will actually torch and that brings it to the top of the trees which is calling a running crown fire which are very dangerous. the fire can burn twice through the top of the trees and come back under in a different direction. >>reporter: we seeing that across all fronts of the fire. last night you could just see that happening at the top of one tree curling back and it went straight across the landscape. we saw half of mile in fire in 20 minutes. >> heather: we know 4,500 structures are affected. how many of those are in your area? >>reporter: we are looking at 1,600 homes alone here not including the outbuildings. they were bringing in at least

2,000 extra firefighters yesterday to protect the perimeter. there is one front they have set up which is about 2.5 miles long and it was bulldozed. they think that will hold off the fire that is coming in from the east but what they need to do is to protect the city, and send the fire to the north and, also, out to the east, as well. that is rather difficult for them to do because the winds public the fire back. the fire is moving forward at such a rate that even it will pass into the winds and it is not like the winds can drive it back along with firefighters' it is going in every distribution and firefighters are struggling to keep up with that. >> heather: only 7 percent contained at this point. thank you, dominic. >> gregg: united nations inexpecters are dispatched to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria. the white house is saying that this is little doubt the assad

regime has killed hundreds with a poison gas attack. notwithstanding this, the assad recream is now expressing renewed confidence that the tide has turned in its favor in its 2 1/2 year war. now, four united states naval ships are poised, ready to take off on the syrian coastline. the president report through considers a possible united states military intervention. and now from washington with more on this. elizabeth? >>reporter: we learned the syrian regime says u.n. inspectors can come in and investigate evidence of chemical weapons outside the city of damascus by tomorrow but a senior official says the regime's delay tells officials they are intentionally postponing the inspection to hide the evidence of chemical weapons. much of the evidence has been corrupted. so, what if any action will the president make? the president is waiting to make an informed decision about how

to respond but some lawmakers are saying, the time is now. >> we could even destroy the syrian air force if we wanted to. i sent a letter to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to ask what kind of options can we do. i think we have to move is we have to move quickly. >> heather: we are learning from a senior official that four destroyers have been positioned in the eastern mediterranean sea but we have not heard a word of a decision about what they will do. critics are arguing that more needs to be done. >> just standing off and throwing a few missiles and dropping a few bombs on key targets is like what we in the military call a feel-good bombing giving the president the ability to say he has done something, perhaps some in america feel better but as far as degrading the ability syrian army to attack its own people in this civil war, i don't think

much is going to come out it. >> heather: reports are that the officials have said they are not considering sending troops to syria or even creating a no-fly zone. we will hear more from the president as the week kicks off tomorrow. >> heather: new developments in egyptian in the twin trials of mubarak and key leaders of his rival group the muslim brotherhood. president mubarak is charmed in the killings of hundreds of protesters in the uprising against his rule in 2011 and he now is on retrial after witnessing an appeal to have his life innocence overturned. a separate court postponing the trial of self lowers of the muslim brotherhood who were also facing allegations ofilling protesters. they are accused in ugly clashes that left nine dead in cairo this past union. just days before the ouster of president morsi and as the division define muslims and

christians in egypt growing increasingly violent, a picture of hope here in the united states. egyptian immigrants living in jersey city, new jersey, are putting away their religious differences and working side by side in their pursuit of the american dream. brian? >> nearly 6,000 miles from cairo in jersey city, new jersey, muslims and coptic christians stand peacefully united for democracy. >> how we live together in peace, we don't pretend or we don't do it -- it comes naturally. >>reporter: a reverend has lived new jersey city for 27 years. >> we have a friendly relationship with our brothers, our muslims. they come to our festivals and we go to their ramadan. >>reporter: attacks on 40 coptic christian churches and the death of a thousand

generations strain the community. >> there has been a lot of agony. people are very alarmed. we are praying. >>reporter: praying for people like coptic christians, after two cousins were shot directly in the head. >> he is angry but as the new continuations threaten to erupt other egyptian immigrants refuse to give in. >> what we need is the real justice taking place. the real democracy taking place. real freedom taking place. >> the muslim brotherhood, they come and try to defend the church. >> muslim egyptian leader hopes jersey city can inspire egypt to continue rallying for democracy. >> we want to give an example to people out here, to everyone, an

example of how the egyptian community lives in america and how they understand each other. >> a community standing strong as the world watches egypt on the brisk. health thank you from new york city. >> gregg: tragedy in mexico, a cargo train derails leaving four people dead and dozens injured. local media reporting that ambulances unable to reach the site because of "very difficult terrain." the terrain is called the beast is popular among my grant looking to hitch a ride for the united states border. hundreds can be found in freight cars or actually sitting on top of the roofs. >> heather: a 70-year-old levee is testing the nerves of thousands in south florida. the army corps of engineers said the dike surrounding the lake is a disaster waiting to happen

posing serious flood threats but it is polluting rivers. as the waters rise, so do the worries. phil? >>reporter: hundreds of protests showed up to confront florida governor about what is going on with the lake okeechobee and it is poisoning their river downstream. >> this is toxic allergy. >> charter boat captain has had no customers in two months. >> we are in for real problems. fish kills. it is only august. >> the remaining hurricane season is of paramount concern at lake okeechobee and the 143-mile long dike. the army corps of engineers ranks it as the most vulnerable to fail. the corps is repairing 32

vulnerable culverts. >> we have scenarios do show 8' to 12' deficit water flooding communities and homes. >>reporter: that could displace tens of thousands in the towns around the lake. >> this town could disappear underwater. that is a legitimate concern. that is the reason we have the dike. if it wasn't here we would be flooded out. >>reporter: to prevent catastrophic flooding, the corps opened the gates to maximum outflow for a month and has now reduced the lane discharge but the consequence of this remains, bacteria and allergy rich water killing tourism on both coasts. >> the governor flames congress for allowing the fragile levee to get in the state in the first place forcing the choice of saving lake towns like this or polluting the coastal towns down

stream. >> gregg: a new report shedding light on a very alarming trend to saving for retirement plans. have you done that? >> heather: not a lot of americans are saving enough. >> gregg: not enough. >> heather: i do some. you are not the only one trying to make it work. washington decembering up for a major budget battle. our political insiders will talk about that. >> gregg: sorry, super bowl fans, new jersey getting cold in the winter action brand new prediction from a trusted source on how cold it could get at this year's nfl. >> heather: i want to go. >> gregg: got to go to new orleans or california. ♪ we are champions

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>> gregg: a shooting spree leaving three dead and two

wounded, a trucking company in florida, and a long-term worker shot and killed the former boss and co-worker before take his own life. the air force releasing the commander of a nuclear base after a failed we safety and security inspection. military leaders say they lost confidence. >> get ready to bundle up, super bowl fans, a major storm will hit the northeast this winter right about the same time the super bowl is played in new jersey. i always said that was a mistake. we will see if mother nature will go by the farmers'bly become. >> heather: now, real football players, real fans, don't need a dome to play the game. >> gregg: so not true. >> heather: troubling new report suggesting that americans' retirement funds could be shaping up worse than we thought. not only are we not saving as

much as we should be, but an alarming number are on a downward trend. look at the numbers, 17 percent of people are putting away less than they did last year. a majority are not saving anymore. scott is a financial advisor and he is founder of www.helpsavemydollars.com, so, why, scott, aren't people saving more is growing their retirement accounts. >>guest: before the recession folks may have been on a great path toward sending for retirement. maybe they were putting away 10 percent or 15 percent of their income. when the recession hit, this likely came to a hit. if you lost your job your focus shifted from saving for retirement to figure out how to get by in the president. as the economy starts to recover, consumers are forced to now pick up the pieces. >> heather: stocks are rising. >>guest: stocks are rising but, ultimately, it comes down

to consumers are shying away from the volatile stocks. a poll done each year shows recently from april that only 52 percent of americans are invested in the stock market and before the recession that number was as high as 65 percent. americans are missing out on some games. >> heather: how were should people be saving in their retirement account? what should be the goal? >>guest: the goal is 10 percent to 15 percent of the income. the dow jones industrial average is up 15 percent year to date is if you have 10 to 20 years left until you retire, you should be in there, you can afford to withstand the volatility, and the best way is to open a roth i.r.a. which is tax definited, town $5,500a great way to jump start your saving. >> heather: if you do not have time on your side if you are one of these folks who mad to dip

into it to pay the bills day-to-day what is your advice in essence you want to stay away from the risky stock market because if you lose there is not enough time to recoup. instead, look at some your other options, reverse mortgages, this is where if you own a home and you 62 or older, you can tack into the equity and get a lump sum or a inly payment and upon your death your beneficiaries will cover the costs and pay back the loan or, look, try to take social security at a later able. if you take it at 62, the earliest possible, you get 30 percent less but if you wait until 67 or 70 you get 3 percent to 8 percent more. it is important to delay that social security. >> heather: if you have that opening. a lot unknowns, the cost of obamacare being one. >>guest: there are a lot of factors in the economy that are making it tough for anyone to get ahead when it cops to

retirement. we have stagnant wages, the cost of living is going up and, in fact, pensions even in the public sector are still being questioned. a lost factors to blame. >> heather: thank you, scott, we apresident bush -- appreciate it. >> gregg: fox files takes you inside the octogan with women warriors, health -- heather, you know this, right? rhonda is a superstar in ultimate fighting. >> heather: i would not want to get my ear messed up. >> gregg: we get close up and personal with rowdy rhonda. >> the judo players will not

find anything like me. >> we sat down with one of the most dominating women fighters and current 135-weight champion, rowdy rhonda with the record of 7-30 with all wins coming by arm bar in the first round. >> i'm entirely emotionless. >> she is one of the most pierce competitors i have ever met. ever. ever. in box, or mixed martial arts. >> she could put the big hurt on you. >> gregg: tune in for much more of our special report of the women warriors of the usc on "fox files" tonight on the fox news channel. >> heather: why not send rowdy rhonda to capitol hill. >> gregg: she could kick some butt up there and they need it. >> heather: there is a new battle over the debt limit. could this new fight lead to

grave consequences for the president? our political insiders will debate that. >> gregg: and they will kick in butt, too, in just a moment. >> the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president. that is called impeachment. good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

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>> heather: dozens are people killed in a series of attacks across iraq today.

violence has been on the rise in iraq since a crackdown on a sunni protest camp in april. if lebanon hundreds matched protesting against friday's bombings of two mosques. 47 people were killed in the attack and hundreds were injured. >> israel will build settlement in eastern jerusalem that could undermine recently renewed petitions talks with palestinians. >> gregg: summer could be winding down but things are heating up in washington, dc. a number of political cry -- cry cease are approaching but it boils down to another potential government shut down. >> republicans have to do something we have not done if a long-term: stand up and win the argument. stand up and say "no." we want to keep the government open. we have voted to keep the government open, why is

president obama threatening to shut the government down to force obamacare down the notes of the american people? we will bring in our political insiders, john leboutillier, former republican congressman for new york, and doug schoen former pollster for pick by, and pat caddell a fox news contributor former pollster for president jimmy carter. coming up today from charleston, south carolina. doug, it is the dream, isn't it, the dream of democrats is that the g.o.p. shuts down the government. >> absolutely. ted cruz is trying to make the case as newt gingrich did in the mid-90's that the president will be blamed if the government is shut down. in fact, the opposite will be the case. the republicans will be blamed. the republicans are on target to hold the house of representatives and win the not. based on my experience in the white house with bill clinton the opposite will happen. it is the only potential game

changer the democrats have to potentially win the house of representatives if this is a shut down. >> gregg: john? >> until now the they of us have called the republican part the stupid party. if they do this one, they have gone from being the stupid party to being the suicide party. what doug said is true, we will lose the house of representatives, we will not regain the senate, where we have a chance next year to win control of the senate and it is not -- and ted cruz wants to stop obamacare. great. we have talked about every week with i, how to stop it. there ways to do it. delay it is the smart political move. everything the republicans have done, defunding, and now closing the government downs repealing, that will never happen. delaying it can be done politically. >> gregg: pat, it strikes me that obamacare is unravelling all on its own.

republicans, wouldn't they be smart just to sit on their hand hands? >> what john said, first of all, both doug and john are right this is a nonstarter. if you see it as an opening bid, remember that ted cruz is the person, months ago, when he got no traction, he introduced it, the first person talking about delay. if you go to delay and if you add in the issue which is a potential firestorm issue, no republican will use it, which is the i.r.s. running health care but particularly this deal where they decide they would get their subsidy and i am telling you there ain't going to be a deal. this is about politics and the real issue for the republicans is to make the democrats in the senate up for re-election and in the house of representatives, vote on things they cannot swallow or if they do, they will be the suicide party. that is the key here.

can they be smart as well as tough? speaker boehner's solution doesn't work. >> here is the situation, speaker boehner is talking about a continuing resolution of a short-terminate to delay the process to later until the year and early next year when the debt ceiling and the government funding issue can be joined. my attitude is if they do that they will make a bad situation worse for the g.o.p. greg the latest poll own john boehner he is not the most popular guy in the bar. >> he is 30 percent favorable. >> the last time he was this low is after the default of 2011 which the republicans were equal

pans with obama on that not making a deal. we are back at debt ceiling and budget deal, wrapped together with obama sitting there, and obama doesn't care about the substance of any of this, he cares about the politics. if he can find a way to screw over the g.o.p., to cost them the house of representatives, he would consider his second-term a total success. >> gregg: the other thing and pat i want to get your reaction. a soundbite of tom coburn, a highly respected member of the united states senate and he is talking about impeachment which always hurts republicans. here he is. >> you have to establish the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president. that is called impeachment. but that is not something you

take lightly and you have to use an historical precedent of what it means. i think there is violation of law in this administration but i think there is also a ton of incompetence, of people who are making decisions. >> gregg: he could be telling the truth but it is self destruct. >> my god, this is, this is not only self destruct but mental self abuse by people on the right indulging themselves in this. this is about winning. first of all, this is a party, one of the reasons for boehner's low ratings, this party cannot get an investigation that works on benghazi or on the i.r.s. and they are talking about having impeachment? come on. give me a break. the fact is, yes, we talked about this last week. the government is lawless but they want -- i really respect tom coburn he is one of the few

people in the town who fight about the waste and the corruption but this is wrong. shut your mouth, get on the investigations you should be on. that will lead you to where it goes. >> it is a very dumb thing to talk about. i was advising president clinton during the impeachment crisis in 1998 and 1999 and bottom line, the democrats remain on a downward trend until impeachment. we changed 9 dialogue to progress, not part danship, protect social security, and bottom line against all odds and all resident the democrats picked up seats in 1998. it was because the republicans overreached. >> the speaker, i think has a very difficult time here. he has the right in his conference, majority, really, of his conference pushing at him to go after obama more aggressively and so far boehner does nothing. what he ought to do and we have

said it on here for six months, it will help him politically, he ought to name a select committee to do benghazi that will satisfy his right flank and he will vent through that committee and buy him some time to make other deals on other things. >> gregg: i want to show you a month of billboards calling for watergate-style committee in boehner's district as the september 11th anniversary approaches. >> you have 167 members of the republican congress have written to boehner asking to create this committee, a majority of republicans on all four investigating committees that are already investigating benghazi have signed on and they want the select committees. >> gregg: here is what boehner what to say. take a listen. >> i don't want to prolong this any more than anyone else. what i want is the truth.

it isn't that the i.r.s. is admitted to targeting conservatives even if the white house continues to be stuck on the word "if." now, my question isn't about who is going to resign. my question is, who is going to jail over the scandal? >> the answer is, no one. we now have those turned into so-called phony scandals because the president has been running out the clock, he now has gone from outrage to disbelief saying it doesn't mean anything and since there is not a select committee as far as i can tell the democrats and obama have won the fight and the president just blames the republicans for all of his own inadequacies. >> gregg: is doug right? >> i disagree because i'm hopeful, still hopeful, that john boehner, and he cares about his country. the problem is, it is fourth on his list. the policy and the arguments for

ben goes are over whelming. here is the question. if he is so concerned about being speaker and his leadership, even if you disagree, will fault do this, because he is worried about his involvement with the other side issue of the c.i.a. station and the moving of arms to turkey for syria, let me just say they have 174 members and the grass roots need to tell him, if he cannot do his job for the country, he should go. >> if you have, as you and john say, 170-road members for this, why is there inaction? >> two-thirds of them. it is not just a majority it is two thirds of the republicans. >> there is no courage, that is why. the president's red line, speaking of lack of couple, has been crossed in syria so what now? we are going to go through the options on the table when our political insiders return.

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>> heather: new a quick check of the headlines. california firefighters battling heavy winds and tough terrain trying to contain a massive wildfire in yosemite. it is threatening thousands of homes and groves of trees. a double lung transplant off oxygen, her mother making the announcement. she has cystic fibrosis and recovering well after successful surgery. >> a giant panda cub is healthy and active, you can see it with its mother. welcome news as the smithsonian national zoo and other facilities have had difficulty breeding the endangered species in captivity.

>> gregg: a senior white house official saying this is very little doubt that chemical womens were used in syria by the assad regime. remember the red line, the line in the sand? back with our political insiders, john leboutillier, and doug schoen and pat caddell in south carolina. pat, the white house has been accused by the walking of putting assad on double secret probation like "animal house." is the president and some of the accusing him of being this, is pacivist? >> he is so weak. if you understand the arab mind, the fact that this chemical attack was on the anniversary of his drewing the red line which he then didn't enforce tells you a lot about the contempt whether it is assad, the russians, and

why the entire region is blowing up. i don't think he is a pacivist but he believes in leading from behind and an initiative which was to embrace the muslim brotherhood has turned that region into a disaster. >> gregg: during the break you said to me he doesn't really believe in american exceptionalism. >> he doesn't believe we are the unique nation in the world who stands for clear values of freedom and liberty, he doesn't assert them, he doesn't stand for them, he plays politics, pat is right, he is weak and the middle seat assunder because this president doesn't stand for anything clearly. i defy you or anyone else to tell me what the obama doctrine is. >> gregg: are in any republicans that are worth a darn? >> no, not at the moment. they are down the middle.

you have the neo cons led by john mccain and lindsay graham who want to run in all the places and bomb for no purpose that i can see but they go over to egypt and ask the military to let the muslim brotherhood people out of jail. that makes no sense. and you have the isolationist in the republican party and they is gone too far that way. >> way too far. there has to be a middle ground and the middle ground is supposed to be this: what is in our interests? that is the number one concern. not what is in president obama's personal political interest which is where he has always gone, we have to be thinking what is in america's interest in each of these, in egypt, it is clear, number one priority, for 35 years is to prevent israel and egypt from going to war with each other. we paid them billions to not fight each other. we have to keep doing that. >> gregg: here is the president's famous line about

syria. >> we cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling in the hands of the wrong people. we have been very clear to the assad regime and also to other players on the ground that is red line for you is we start seeing a bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus. >> gregg: the trouble is if you draw a red line and you do nothing... >> what it does, it discredits the united states and then he forces you into looking for a half-baked solution. they may bomb something or whatever but the problem is they say we can't do until everything is on board and at some point when you say this, this

president is so far over his head and he is surrounded by people who, frankly, are incompetent. what is happening in egypt --. >> another red line has been drawn for iran, a new president in iran, we are supposed to start negotiations. they would like to negotiate but bottom line they are moving to develop nuclear weapons and we don't have a policy there or an approach there and we are at risk. >> guys, thanks. you get more from them on on monday at 10:30 a.m. and they will be back on sunday or at twitter. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. with 7 antioxidants to support cell health.

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>> gregg: the soda industry trying to affect their bottom line. >> heather: and now, coke is saying their artificial sweetner is "safe." but nutritionists say safety was never the issue. a senior attend physician of emergency medicine in the bronx joins us to let us know, safe or

not? >> thanks for having me. i have to stay it is still unknown whether they are safe over the long term use in your lifetime. look historically sugar was a treat for dessert or special occasions and you go to the soda shot and have a coca-cola or a treat with your friends and neighbors. now, sugar is such a large part of our diet that we are looking for alternatives and substitutes to decrease the calories we get. >> gregg: so, do we really know if the sweetners hurt us? >>guest: in the past when we have developed something artificial many times years later we find out the side effects or other things we cannot plan on in the manufacturing of these. why can't we still use sugar but in decreasing quantities and in

less regular amounts. >> heather: nutritionists are saying safety was never the issue, anyway, so, what was the main issue? the unknowns you are speaking of in essence the unknowns. some of the sweetners make you crave that artificial sweetner. this is an unknown mechanism that still hasn't been fully developed. people have been eating natural sugar for years in south america the artificial sweetner we use called stevia is produced from a plant so maybe they need to look at natural products. in my book, we should decrease what we take in on a regular basis. >> gregg: my wife is addicted to chocolate. but stevia is interesting because it is natural, organic, and any down side? >>guest: from my information,

i have to say there is less of a down side. it is natural. it is plant based. anything we cook in the laboratory some are wonderful products but we don't know ten or 20 years what a large amount of it in your body will do. >> heather: how does this tie into the obesity rates in america? >>guest: we have to lock where we are putting our sugar and substitutes, sports drinks are a high amount of sugar. the largest groups that drink those: children when they play sports or going to the football or basketball or baseball games, they are drinking large quantities of spores drinks with artificials sweetners. who knows what it does to the smaller body? >>gregg: the american cancer society said there is no link to cancer associated with the sweetner but they don't know? >>guest: no one can be

certain. having had issues with that myself over the years, one never really knows. you just don't know. >> gregg: dr. patti, thank you from st. barnabas. >> gregg: that does it for us. fox news with chris wall loss -- chris wallace is next. have a great weekend, everyone. see you. ♪

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